** He undergoes a lot of character development in ''Super'' after he was powerless against Frieza. He realizes that not only is Dragon Ball a dangerous world to live in and he needs to train again to protect his family, he learns to go straight for the kill after Piccolo chews him out for letting Cell and Buu take advantage of him, and he realizes how important Goku's approval is to him and sets out to make Goku proud(although Goku already was proud of him despite Gohan's lifestyle choices(if only sad that he didnt walk down Goku's path but he still loves his son anyway) and had complete faith in Gohan even when he was in his weakened state, but Gohan was still extremely insecure about dissapointing him.)

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** He undergoes a lot of character development in ''Super'' after ''Super''. After he was powerless against Frieza. He Frieza, he realizes that not only is Dragon Ball a dangerous world to live in and he needs to train again be strong to protect his family, family again, so he learns to go straight for the kill after Piccolo chews him out for letting Cell and Buu take advantage of him, and he his mercy. He later realizes how important Goku's his fathers approval is to him and sets out to make Goku proud(although Goku proud[[note]]Goku already was proud of him despite Gohan's lifestyle choices(if only sad that choices, he didnt walk down Goku's path but he still loves his son anyway) and had complete faith in just often wished Gohan even when he was would train more.[[/note]]. This leads Gohan to desire to prove himself to Goku, not by following in his weakened state, footsteps, but Gohan was still extremely insecure about dissapointing him.)by going in a way his father couldn't.

* {{Determinator}}: As much as his father. {{Deconstructed|Trope}} by his future self from ''Anime/TheHistoryOfTrunks''; Gohan's refusal to back down cost him his left arm and eventually, his life. This is how he barely gets by in ''Super'' after losing most of his power, the standout examples when he nearly killed himself to summon Goku and Vegeta was able to force a tie with Lavender ''while his eyes, organs, and limbs were rotting away'' all as a Super Saiyan 1. He luckily keeps the trait after getting his ultimate power back.

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* {{Determinator}}: As much as his father. {{Deconstructed|Trope}} by his future self from ''Anime/TheHistoryOfTrunks''; Gohan's refusal to back down cost him his left arm and eventually, his life. This is how he barely gets by in ''Super'' after losing most of his power, the standout examples when he nearly killed himself to summon Goku and Vegeta Vegeta. Later he was able to force a tie with Lavender ''while his eyes, organs, and limbs were rotting away'' all as due to Lavender's poison, which was made worse since he transformed into a Super Saiyan 1.Saiyan. He luckily keeps the trait after getting his ultimate power back.

* ForegoneConclusion: Unless the creative team retcon ''End of Z'', no matter how strong a fighter he gets in ''Super'', he'll eventually go back to being a scholar first and foremost. Justified because he only really trains when he needs to, and generally doesn't want to be a typical Saiyan BloodKnight.

* BreakingTheFourthWall: Near the beginning of the Buu Saga, after Krillin's non-bald redesign was shown, he makes an AsideGlance to [[https://youtu.be/hbWVvU6Itx8?t=8s inform the viewers that it's Krillin]].

** And even then, if he decides to train, he can go even further. In ''Super'', Gohan gets back to trainning after being beaten by Frieza. By the Universal Survival Saga, he regains his Ultimate Form back, with a new catch: [[spoiler:this time he's powerful enough to take on a ''Super Saiyan Blue''. Goku has to use his Kaioken to win the fight]].

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** And even then, if he decides to train, he can go even further. In ''Super'', Gohan gets back to trainning training after being beaten by Frieza. By the Universal Survival Saga, he regains his Ultimate Form back, with a new catch: [[spoiler:this time he's powerful enough to take on a ''Super Saiyan Blue''. Goku has to use his Kaioken to win the fight]]. [[spoiler: It's still not enough for him to be able to beat Dyspo on his own, and even with Frieza's help and a strategy that worked he had to sacrifice himself to get Dyspo off the stage.]]

** In ''Super'' episode 90, he's retrained himself and regained his Ultimate power-up, which allows him to [[spoiler: take hits from Super Saiyan Blue Goku]]. Then [[spoiler:Goku uses the Super Saiyan Blue Kaio-ken and [[OneHitKO knocks Gohan out with one punch]].]]

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** In ''Super'' episode 90, he's retrained trained himself and regained his Ultimate power-up, which allows him to [[spoiler: take hits from Super Saiyan Blue Goku]]. Then [[spoiler:Goku uses the Super Saiyan Blue Kaio-ken and [[OneHitKO knocks Gohan out with one punch]].]]]]** Even at his full power Gohan AND Frieza were no match for Dyspo's lightspeed and only after Gohan came up with a plan using Frieza's finger lasers to beat him did they gain the upper hand. [[HeroicSacrifice And even then Gohan had to eliminate himself from the tournament to get rid of him]].

* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: He's amazingly stoic about his eyes and body rotting out during his fight with Lavender and fights through the pain with only his desire for Goku's approval keeping him going. He was unconscious and on Death's door at end of the fight before Goku gave him a sensu bean. He also is fairly unfazed after [[spoiler: [[StuffBlowingUp Frieza nuked him and Dyspo off the stage at the Tournament of Power]].]]

* {{Determinator}}: As much as his father. {{Deconstructed|Trope}} by his future self from ''Anime/TheHistoryOfTrunks''; Gohan's refusal to back down cost him his left arm and eventually, his life.

to:

* {{Determinator}}: As much as his father. {{Deconstructed|Trope}} by his future self from ''Anime/TheHistoryOfTrunks''; Gohan's refusal to back down cost him his left arm and eventually, his life. This is how he barely gets by in ''Super'' after losing most of his power, the standout examples when he nearly killed himself to summon Goku and Vegeta was able to force a tie with Lavender ''while his eyes, organs, and limbs were rotting away'' all as a Super Saiyan 1. He luckily keeps the trait after getting his ultimate power back.

* BrilliantButLazy: Has (by far) the most natural fighting ability out of the entire cast, but he doesn't share his father's love of fighting and usually won't bother to train unless there's a threat. Because of this, he actually gets ''weaker'' after the TimeSkip. Vegeta chews him out for it, although, being DBZ, he eventually gets a [[TimeToUnlockMoreTruePotential new powerup anyway]]. Gohan is perfectly capable of applying himself to the things he likes, and he's also perfectly capable of applying himself to fighting if he has a reason to. However, after Goku's fight with Toppo during the Zen Exhibition, he show's brief excitement for the upcoming Tournament of Power, likely due to his Saiyan heritage.

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* BrilliantButLazy: Has (by far) the most natural fighting ability out of the entire cast, but he doesn't share his father's love of fighting and usually won't bother to train unless there's a threat. Because of this, he actually gets ''weaker'' after the TimeSkip. Vegeta chews him out for it, although, being DBZ, he eventually gets a [[TimeToUnlockMoreTruePotential new powerup anyway]]. Gohan is perfectly capable of applying himself to the things he likes, and he's also perfectly capable of applying himself to fighting if he has a reason to. However, after Goku's fight with Toppo during the Zen Exhibition, he the show's brief excitement for the upcoming Tournament of Power, likely due to his Saiyan heritage.heritage and desire to impress Goku.

** With encouragement from his father from beyond the grave, Gohan finally kills Cell once and for all. However, Android 16 cannot be wished back since he was never really alive to begin with and Goku choses to remain dead for everyone's protection, forcing Gohan to break the news to his mother.

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** With encouragement from his father from beyond the grave, Gohan finally kills Cell once and for all. However, Android 16 cannot be wished back since he was never really alive to begin with and Goku choses chooses to remain dead for everyone's protection, forcing Gohan to break the news to his mother.

** He undergoes a lot of character development in ''Super'' after he was powerless against Frieza. He realizes that not only is Dragon Ball a dangerous world to live in and he needs to train again to protect his family, he learns to go straight for the kill after Piccolo chews him out for letting Cell and Buu take advantage of him, and he realizes how important Goku's approval is to him and sets out to make Goku proud(although Goku already was proud of him despite Gohan's lifestyle choices(if only sad that he didnt walk down Goku's path but he still loves his son anyway) and had complete faith in Gohan even when he was in his weakened state, but Gohan was still extremely insecure about dissapointing him.)

* FatherIDontWantToFight: Despite knowing that he is the last hope to defeat Cell and his father's encouragements, Gohan can't bring himself to destroy the android. He doesn't like to fight and, at least in the manga, has never taking a life before. He begs Cell to surrender, but Cell choses pushes him past his RageBreakingPoint to bring out his hidden power. This ends ''really'' badly for Cell.

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* FatherIDontWantToFight: Despite knowing that he is the last hope to defeat Cell and his father's encouragements, Gohan can't bring himself to destroy the android. He doesn't like to fight and, at least in the manga, has never taking taken a life before. He begs Cell to surrender, but Cell choses pushes chooses to push him past his RageBreakingPoint to bring out his hidden power. This ends ''really'' badly for Cell.

** Gohan to his young brother Goten. They both have many similarities to their father like their [[IncorruptiblePurePureness pure-hearts]], love of animals, their innocents, and fun-loving nature. Goten inherited his father's carefree personality, while Gohan is serious and down to Earth. Goten is quite hyper, while Gohan is very reserved. Goten is allow to be a child, while Gohan was forced to grow up fast because of the constant danger the Earth was exposed to.* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: The Responsible Sibling to Goten's Foolish Sibling. Gohan is the man of the house since his father is dead and he needs to take care of his mom, although he was serious and down-earth even before Goku died. Goten is similarity to his father in that he's carefree, irresponsible, and mischievous. [[{{Foil}} Despite being near polar opposites]], they both adore each other with Goten hero-worshipping his big brother.

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** Gohan to his young brother Goten. They both have many similarities to their father like their [[IncorruptiblePurePureness pure-hearts]], love of animals, their innocents, and fun-loving nature. Goten inherited his father's carefree personality, while Gohan is serious and down to Earth. Goten is quite hyper, while Gohan is very reserved. Goten is allow allowed to be a child, while Gohan was forced to grow up fast because of the constant danger the Earth was exposed to.* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: The Responsible Sibling to Goten's Foolish Sibling. Gohan is the man of the house since his father is dead and he needs to take care of his mom, although he was serious and down-earth even before Goku died. Goten is similarity similar to his father in that he's carefree, irresponsible, and mischievous. [[{{Foil}} Despite being near polar opposites]], they both adore each other with Goten hero-worshipping his big brother. Goten does become more polite like Gohan as he grows older, however.

* GeniusBruiser: He is incredibly bright, topping his class in highschool, but for a while was the strongest character in the series and still remains in the top five or so. In the preliminary matchup to the Universal Tournament: [[spoiler: He uses his energy to throw out from Super Saiyan to form a ''radar'' to counteract his [[AHandfulForAnEye blindness]]]]

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* GeniusBruiser: He is incredibly bright, topping his class in highschool, high school, but for a while was the strongest character in the series and still remains in the top five or so. In the preliminary matchup to the Universal Tournament: [[spoiler: He uses his energy to throw out from Super Saiyan to form a ''radar'' to counteract his [[AHandfulForAnEye blindness]]]]blindness]]]]** He comes up with a plan to beat [[FragileSpeedster Dyspo]] when both him and Frieza were getting destroyed 2v1. It only didn't go completely smooth due to Frieza's endurance reaching its limit, but they still were able to eliminate him by Gohan preforming a non-lethal HeroicSacrifice to hold him down that wouldn't have been possible if Gohan hadn't thought of the plan.

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